Chapter 12
Family Secrets and Family Lies
Ten years earlier...
February 1st, 2110
Cooper Redwing was in pain. He could feel the skin on his neck bubbling as the boiling water scalded him. He tried not to touch his neck. ignoring the pain as best he could, Cooper focused on his younger brother- Dolf- who trying to kill Cooper.
This would not normally be a problem. Dolf was younger than Cooper- who was ten- and Dolf was also very small. Normally Cooper would have heavily outmatched Dolf and easily overpowered the younger boy.
That was before Dolf had thrown boiling water at Cooper's face and managed to scald Cooper's neck. Dolf had used this as a distraction to jump at Cooper and bury a knife Cooper's hip. The knife had turned against Cooper's hip bone and hadn't done a lot of damage, but Cooper could feel the wound bleeding, and bleeding rather freely. Dolf hadn't hit an artery, but the younger boy had managed to strike a vein. Cooper was losing blood and needed to wrap the wound before it became a problem.
The real problem was that in order to deal with the wound on his hip, Cooper had to ignore the burn on his neck and deal with his brother. Dolf was crouched on top of Cooper with the knife raised above Cooper's throat. Cooper had both of his hands wrapped around his brother's hands, holding the younger boy back. This wouldn't have been difficult normally, but Cooper was also trying to deal with the multiple sources of pain Dolf had already given Cooper.
"Just die. It will be much easier than fighting me." Dolf said, trying to muscle the knife down to Cooper's throat.
Cooper tried to respond but only managed to produce a growl from his injured throat.
"You don't want it. Pike doesn't want it. I'm the one true son of the Winters clan. You aren't necessary."
Cooper focused on his younger brother, trying to banish the pain at his throat and hip and twisted, pulling with his arms and dragging his brother to the ground with him. Cooper sat on top of the younger boy.
"The Winters clan." Cooper rasped, "Isn't. Necessary. They are. A pox. Less than necessary. Won't die for you. Or any Winter Wolf."
"Greatness is our destiny. The destiny of the strong. This land is ours, will be ours in time."
"Belongs to nobody. It owns itself. Can't own land."
"Listen to you. You understand nothing. You can barely speak after my attack. The strong determine what the weak are allowed to do. And I have taken away your speech."
Cooper yanked his hands upwards, dragging the knife and Dolf's hands up above the younger boy's head.
"And. I take. Away. Your smug. Grin."
Cooper drove his forehead down into Dolf's nose. There was a crunching sound as the nose crumpled against Cooper's forehead. Dolf screamed and Cooper raised his head again, driving it down into Dolf's jaw. Cooper could feel Dolf's teeth cutting the skin on his forehead, but he could also feel his brother's grip slackening. Cooper raised his head and struck again, and again until Dolf was unconscious.
"Teach you. To mess. With a bigger. Monster." Cooper said to the unconscious Dolf.
Cooper knelt by his pack and quickly removed bandages and a compress for the wound on his hip. He stripped off his leather pants and bound the wound after stemming the bleeding. The blood had stained his left leg quite extensively and Cooper was concerned about the effects of blood loss. Still, he could see nothing to do at this point but carry on.
Cooper stood up cautiously. The wound on his hip wasn't preventing him from standing. He applied a burn salve to the delicate raised skin on his neck. The salve helped to soothe the pain and clear Cooper's head. He was carefully hefting his pack and getting his gear strapped on when Pike barreled into the room.
"What happened to your neck? And you leg? Can you walk? We need to go. Dad's isn't dead and he's mad. I stabbed him in the leg. So he's slowed down a lot, but he's still behind me. He's slower now, but he's coming so we have to go. How's your leg. Is that Dolf? what did you do to his nose? Is your neck okay? Can you run?"
"Can run. Can't talk. So well. Grab pack. We go."
Pike looked shocked at Cooper's voice, then took a second to look at the burn on his neck. He nodded, "That should heal, we'll look at it later."
"Where. Do we go? Storm still. Strong."
"Into the storm. We were taught how to survive in a snow storm."
"Never. Had to use. That training. Before. Only this cold. In the mountains. First time we've seen snow."
"So it's good practice. It's better than staying in here with 'Dad' and his big gun."
Cooper nodded. Then he noticed the cup of hot chocolate that Dolf had been drinking. Dolf had set it down carefully to the side before attacking Cooper. Cooper reached down and picked up the cup. He carefully sipped the drink, smiled, and then slowly drank two thirds of the hot chocolate.
"That. Helped." Cooper said, and handed the cup to Pike who downed the last of the hot chocolate.
"You took most of the chocolate." Pike said with a smile.
"You lied. About our father. I know that the adults. Weren't telling me. Everything. You're my brother. I thought I could. Trust you." Cooper said, carefully parceling his breathing out.
"Do we have to do this now? Here? Time isn't exactly on our side right now. Little brother is busted up and Dad is coming. I think Dolf's broken nose will piss him off even more. Do you really want to do this right now?"
"I need to trust. My brother. Before I go into. The storm with him."
Pike was quiet for a moment.
"When was I supposed to tell you? When you were a baby? When you were five? In the beginning you weren't old enough to understand. And when you were old enough to understand, you would wonder why I hadn't told you. I wanted to tell you when you hit thirteen and took the test."
"Why?"
"At least then I could claim that I had waited for a particular event. You know 'Hey Coop, now that you're a man I need to tell you something.' Like that."
"I thought that my. Our parents were dead. You knew. You knew for ten years. Any time would have been better. Than learning it from our worst enemy. Our worst enemy. Our Father. You knew we were monsters."
"No, stop. I knew our father was a monster. Your mom is a nice person that our dad holds hostage, my mom got raped. He's a monster. We aren't monsters unless we choose to be."
"Dolf is a monster. You don't know. If we have the option. To choose."
"Dolf is a kid who only knows what his father shows him. We have other people who raised us."
"What else. Haven't you told me?"
"I didn't tell you about that Winter Wolf who branded my hands. But I never hid the brands from you, and you never asked."
"No I didn't. I thought you would. Tell me."
"Okay, I didn't tell you. What was I supposed to do?"
"Tell me. I told you everything. I told you my colors. My synesthesia. I didn't tell. Any adults about that. Except Mister Poe. And he knew somehow. Besides. I told you. First."
Pike looked down at the fire, and back at the unconscious Dolf. Pike cocked his head and listened for their father.
"Fine. I should have told you. Can we go now? Please."
"We can go. We aren't finished though."
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